BAE Systems

BAE Systems is the largest arms manufacturer in Europe and the fourth biggest in the world. Registered in the UK, the company has annual military sales of $15bn. Products include fighter and trainer aircraft, warships, submarines, torpedoes, missiles, radar and tactical communications systems, artillery and ammunition. The company employs 90,000 people, 41,000 of whom are in the UK. The company was formed on November 30, 1999 with the merger of British Aerospace and Marconi Electronic Systems, which was made up of several divisions of GEC-Marconi in the UK and overseas.

The company has drawn heavy criticism, both for the use of its products to facilitate human rights abuses and corruption. Its Hawk jets alone have been sold to Brunei, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Kuwait, Malaysia, Oman, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, United Arab Emirates and Zimbabwe. The company is currently under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office over allegations that the company kept a "slush fund" worth some Â£60m to bribe officials from Saudi Arabia. The company sells more to Saudi than to the UK Ministry of Defence.

In August 2004 BAE Systems completed its takeover of armoured vehicle manufacturer Alvis.

Lobbying/links with government
BAE lobbies the UK government at the highest level, securing favourable legislation, ministerial support for overseas sales and insurance on its deals to unstable regimes in the form of 'export credits'. BAE chairman Dick Evans is credited with opening up the Labour government to the company's influence.

The Observer newspaper has quoted an 'industry insider' as saying that Dick Evans, the then chairman of BAE, had unrivalled access to the British Prime Minister: "Dick is entirely ruthless. He is a hard man and gets his own way. But he has also been the most successful in shifting the political ground and courting New Labour. He's one of the few businessmen who can see [Tony] Blair on request." 

The former British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook wrote of the relationship between BAE, then known as British Aerospace, and the government in his book The Point of Departure: "In my time I came to learn that the Chairman of British Aerospace appeared to have the key to the garden door to Number 10. Certainly I never once knew Number 10 to come up with any decision that would be incommoding to British Aerospace".

BAE Systems also lobbies the U.S. government. The company spent $5,140,000 for lobbying in the U.S. in 2006. Some of the lobbying firms used were Van Scoyoc Associates, Inc., Covington & Burling, and American Defense International.

Political contributions
BAE Systems gave the following to federal candidates in the 2006 U.S. election through its political action committees:

Ownership of other companies

 * Alvis (100% owned)
 * RO Defence (100% owned)
 * AMS (50%)
 * Gripen International (50%)
 * Fleet Support Limited (50%)
 * Flagship Training (50%)
 * Aerosystems International (50%)
 * MBDA (37.5%)
 * SAAB (35%)
 * Eurofighter GmbH (33%)

Board of directors

 * Dick Olver (chairman), took over from Richard Evans in July 2004.

Executive directors

 * Mike Turner CBE
 * Chris Geoghegan
 * Michael Lester
 * Steve Mogford
 * Mark Ronald
 * George Rose

Non-executive directors

 * Prof Sue Birley
 * Dr Ulrich Cartellieri
 * Michael Hartnall
 * Rt Hon Lord Hesketh KBE
 * Sir Peter Mason KBE
 * Rt Hon Michael Portillo MP
 * Paolo Scaroni



Contact details
(Headquarters) Farnborough Hampshire GU14 6YU

Tel: + 44 (0)1252 373 232

(Registered Office) 6 Carlton Gardens London SW1Y 5AD

Website: http://www.baesystems.com/

Other SourceWatch resources

 * Political influence of arms companies
 * Peter A. Weinberg
 * Nigel Rudd
 * David Singleton
 * Sir Charles Masefield - former president
 * Sir Ronald Grierson
 * J.H. Binford Peay III